www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY January 19, 2020 6
Riverdale resident with MS runs relay across America
BY KYLE VUILLE
Running 28 miles a day for fi ve
days straight would be feat for
most people, let alone someone
with an autoimmune disease.
On July 13, a Bronx woman
will be running 141 miles over the
course of fi ve days to raise $10,000
to spread awareness for multiple
sclerosis.
Wilmien Blake, 41, of Riverdale,
has always been an avid runner,
but her whole life changed
when she was diagnosed with MS
in 2013.
“I remember I started feeling
this tingling and numbness on my
right side of my body,” Blake said.
“It felt like someone drew a line
right down the middle of me.”
Blake’s initial concerns were
about the disease’s progression
and how it would affect her life in
the years to come.
After she started taking medication
and treatment for MS, she
said she wanted to block out the
side effects because she didn’t
want her diagnosis to be the center
of her life.
“I decided if MS was going to
be a passenger in my life then I’m
going to give it one hell of a ride,”
Blake said.
MS is an autoimmune disease,
which affects the immune system
so patients often get sick a lot,
Blake explained.
However, Blake noted her new
infusion treatment minimizes
those effects.
“I realized how fortunate I was
with my doctor, the medication
and the treatment,” Blake said.
“I felt the obligation to help those
who aren’t as fortunate as I am,
I wanted to show people that MS
doesn’t need to be this big, scary
thing.”
As an avid runner, Blake has
ran marathons and other long distance
races, but said she learned
of the MS Runs the US at another
event to raise money for MS.
“Last year, I was at this event,
‘MS Climbs to the Top’ and at that
event, I learned about the relay
race,” Blake said.
MS Runs the US is an ultra relay
race consisting of 19 runners
starting from Santa Monica, CA
and ends in New York City covering
3,100 miles.
Donations from the race will
go towards MS research and help
those with MS.
Blake has segment 15 of the relay
assigned to her. Her fi ve-day
141-mile journey will start in Valparaiso,
IN and end in Van Wert,
OH, averaging 28 miles a day.
In preparation of the race,
Blake has found herself involved
in all sorts of training besides
running every day.
Her six month training program
includes kickboxing, kettle
ball training, rowing, swimming
and other forms of cross training.
However, Blake still fi nds time
for her family and her job in advertising.
Blake said she starts her day
at 4 a.m. and hits the pavement
before she gets her kids ready for
school and out the door herself for
work.
“It’s the only time I have for
myself,” Blake joked.
Her two children, Zander, 12,
and Lucy, 8, join in on her runs,
trailing her on a scooter or bicycle
while she teaches them about
MS.
Blake said she fi nds herself
very grateful for the support and
love she receives from family and
friends.
Wilmien Blakes gives the camera the thumbs up during The North Face Endurance
Challenge this past June on Wachusett Mountain in Massachusetts. The 50
mile race was the longest race Blake has done since she has committed to the
141 mile 5 day MS Runs the US ultra relay race.
Photo courtesy of Ultra Race Photos
“I’d like to thank my husband,
Phil, for his support, encouragement
and for picking up my slack
while I indulge my love for running,”
Blake said. “Also, my kids
and parents for being my biggest
cheerleaders.”
For more information and
to make donations, please visit
https://www.msruntheus.org/
Bronx cultural organizations receive boost in funding
BY JASON COHEN
Culture and arts organizations
in the borough received a
fi nancial boost as 2019 came to
a close.
The NYC Department of
Cultural Affairs recently announced
$51.3 million in grants
to support cultural programming
at 985 organizations as
part of its 2020 annual funding
cycle.
Some of the local organizations
that received money
were: Bronx Arts Ensemble,
$344,688, Bronx Children’s Museum,
$35,800, Bronx Council
on the Arts, $298,120,
Bronx Documentary Center,
$139,020, Bronx House, Inc.
$93,020, Bronx Opera Company,
$71,800, Bronx River Alliance,
$24,560, Bronx River Art Center,
Inc., $181,700 and Bronx-
ArtSpace, $16,000.
“With additional grant
funds from DCLA, we were able
to fund more art community
projects more fully,” said Viviana
Bianchi, executive director
Bronx Council on the Arts.
“This increased funding
will also allow us to award
more BRIOs (Bronx Recognizes
Its Own awards) to even more
artists. We are very grateful
for this increased support, and
hope that funding continues at
this level or higher in the years
ahead so that BCA can continue
strengthening the cultural
ecosystem of the Bronx,”
she added.
One of the recipients in the
borough was Jeremy McQueen,
an award-winning choreographer,
who started The Black
Iris Project in 2016, which is a
ballet that celebrates diversity
and black history.
He won $5,000 from Bronx
Recognizes Its Own (BRIO),
which provides support to artists
who create works in the
literary, media, visual and performing
arts.
McQueen spoke to the
Bronx Times about the money.
The funds will help form the
creation of a new ballet, The
Storm, which centers on the
disruption caused by tumultuous
hurricanes that have taken
place in the United States over
the last 15 years and the Middle
Passage.
“The Black Iris Project from
its inception has been about
creating movement within
the Black community that has
housed diversity, justice, equity
and inclusion,” McQueen
said. “Communities of color
are not often ones that can always
afford or have access to
high quality performing arts
experiences. The work I do as
an educator and choreographer
with The Black Iris Project has
specifi cally made it possible for
various communities of color
to have access to live art and to
see themselves in the art that
is shared onstage as a source of
inspiration.”
Another winner was Ivan
Velez Jr., a comic artist that received
close to $11,000 for three
community engagement grants,
“New Work,” “Arts Fund” and
“Community Arts” and an artist
residency called Su-Casa.
SU-CASA is a program that
aims to enrich the lives of senior
citizens through the arts.
This grant will help fund
programming and events and
provide art supplies, advertising,
and fi nancial support for
larger events.
“I’m an individual artist
who has used my grant funding
mostly to support my art
instruction programs and celebrations,”
Velez said. “I’ve also
been able to create art events
for the community where other
artists can meet and create together,
as well as inspire people
who would not normally
consider themselves artists to
participate and create.”
Dancers in the Black Iris Project, which recently received grant money from the
city. Photo Courtesy Matthew Murphy
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